The BBC's Brian Barron"For the Istanbul guests, it was a terrifying experience" real 56kBritish hostage, Karen Early"A guy with a gun motioned to me to put my hands in the air" real 28kThe BBC's Peter Miles"The Chechen struggle with Moscow has long been popular in Turkey" real 28k

Monday, 23 April, 2001, 11:27 GMT 12:27 UK

Britons among freed Istanbul hostages

All the hostages were released unharmed

British hostages caught up in the Istanbul hotel siege have been describing their 10-hour ordeal at the hands of pro-Chechen gunmen.

Two English women, and two British pilots with the Cathay Pacific airline, were among the guests freed from the luxury Swisshotel after the gunmen surrendered on Monday morning.

At least 13 gunmen burst into the hotel lobby late on Sunday night, firing automatic weapons into the ceiling.

I was shell-shocked, I did not know what was going on, it was pretty
scary

Karen Early

Reports say they rounded up dozens of guests, holding around 30 hostages in a fifth-floor conference room.

Conference organiser Karen Early, 28, from Surrey, said she had been "shell-shocked" by the drama.

Miss Early, speaking after her release, said she was woken in the early hours and taken to the hotel reception by the gunmen.

"I thought it was a fire but when I got to the elevator there was a guy waiting with a gun," she said.

"He made us hold our hands up and walk into the lobby where they were holding the other people."

Political demands

Hundreds of police surrounded the building early on Monday morning, while the area was sealed off.